1. Field of the Invention
The inventions described herein relate in general to arrangements (apparatus and methods) for protecting living systems from the adverse effects upon them of electric fields, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic fields. In some instances hereinafter, electric fields, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic fields will all jointly be referred to simply as fields.
More specifically, the inventions are directed to electrical, electronic, electromechanical, and electromagnetic devices, systems, and installations and the effect of their concomitant fields on people, animals, and other living systems. The inventions a non-desired and potentially bioeffecting ambient field into a harmless non-bioeffecting field by either superimposing on the ambient field a `protection` field which sanitizes the ambient field, or changing the electrical operation of the device which is producing the ambient field so that its field emissions become less harmful. Both arrangements are successful in `confusing` the living cell or cells, thereby reducing the potentially harmful effects of the ambient field.
This application incorporates the subject matter set forth in two appendicies, filed herewith entitled: EVIDENCE THAT BIOEFFECTS CAN BE CAUSED BY WEAK ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS and A SUMMARY OF DATA DEMONSTRATING THE FACT THAT PROPERLY FLUCTUATING ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS CAN BLOCK THE BIOEFFECT OF COHERENT STEADY STATE EM FIELDS. 2. Description of Related Art
For some years there has been a growing recognition and concern that humans are suffering adverse effects, notably cancers, from living and/or working in ambient electromagnetic fields, particularly those fields which are alternating or pulsating at extremely low frequencies, or being modulated at extremely low frequencies. Extremely low frequencies, hereinafter referred to as ELF, are frequencies of the order of 1000 Hz and below. Ambient frequencies particularly identified with an enhanced risk of cancer are power line frequencies, which are 60 Hz in the U.S. and 50 Hz in the U.K., European Continental countries, and elsewhere. Electromagnetic fields existing near devices using cathode ray tubes also are implicated, due to fields generated by the magnetic electron beam deflecting devices included in tube control apparatus.
Various articles have been published on the electromagnetic field problem. Over the past 14 years a series of epidemiological studies have found that low level electromagnetic fields [even as low as 1 .mu.T (1 micro Tesla) produced by 60 Hz power lines can be correlated with increased incidence of certain diseases. The correlation is strongest for those who have lived or worked in this environment for many years. For example, an increased risk of cancer has been found among children who lived for several years close to power distribution lines [Wertheimer, N. and Leeper, E. "Electrical Wiring Configurations and Childhood Cancer" AM J EPIDEMIOLOGY, 109, 273-284 (1979); also, Savits, D. A. et al., "Case Control Study of Childhood Cancer and Exposure to 60-Hertz Magnetic Fields, " AM J EPIDEMIOLOGY, 128, 10-20 (1988); also London, D. A. et al. "Exposure To Electric and Magnetic Fields And Risk of Childhood Leukemia", AM. J. EPIDEMIOLOGY, 135, 1069-1070 (1992); also, Milham, S. Jr., "Increased Mortality in Amateur radio Operators Due to Lymphatic and Hematopoietic Malignancies," AM. J. EPIDEMIOLOGY, 128, 1175-1176 (1988).
The research indicates that children from high electromagnetic field exposure homes have a 50 percent greater risk of developing cancer, particularly leukemia, lymphomas, and nervous system tumors. Other data also show that men working in electrical jobs, such as electricians and telephone lineman are at higher risk for brain tumors and other cancers. In a recent study in the Los Angeles area, S. Preston-Martin and collaborators at the University of Southern California found that men who had worked for 10 Years or more in a variety of electrical occupations had a ten times greater chance of getting brain tumors than men in the control group. [Preston-Martin, S., and Mack, W. and Peters, Jr. "Astrocytoma Risk Related to Job Exposure to Electric and Magnetic Fields," presented at DOE contractors Annual Review, Denver Colorado, Nov. 5-8, 1990.]
A study performed by G. Matanoski of Johns Hopkins University found a dose response relationship for cancers in male New York Telephone employees from 1976 to 1980. [Matanoski, G., Elliot, E. and Breysse, P. Poster presented at the annual DOE/EPRI Contractors Review of Biological Effects from Electric and Magnetic Fields, November 1989, Portland, Ore.] Matanoski measured the average magnetic field exposure among different types of employees including installation and repair workers. A comparison of the cancer rates among the various types of employees showed that cable splicers were nearly twice as likely to develop cancer as those employees who did not work on telephone lines. Among central office workers those who were exposed to the fields of telephone switching equipment the rates of occurrence of cancers were unusually high, although not as high as for cable splicers. The central office workers were more than three times as likely to get prostate cancer and more than twice as likely to get oral cancer as co-workers who were less exposed. There were two cases of male breast cancer, a disease so rare that no cases at all would be expected.
The 60 Hz electromagnetic fields found in residential settings can vary from about 0.05 .mu.T to over 1000 .mu.T. In-vitro experiments have definitely shown that changes in biological cell function can occur in fields as low or lower than 1 .mu.T and as high as 500 .mu.T. R. Goodman and collaborators [Goodman, R. and Henderson, A., "Sine Waves Enhance Cellular transcription," BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, 7, 23-29, 1986)]have shown that RNA levels can be increased by electromagnetic fields ranging in frequency from 15 to 4400 Hz with amplitudes of 18 to 1150 .mu.T. They have shown that the RNA levels can be enhanced by factors of ten or more. Jutilainen and coworkers [Jutilainen, J., Laara, E. and Saali, K., INT&gt;J. RADIAT. BIOL., 52,787-793, (1987)] have shown that 1 .mu.T 50-Hertz electromagnetic fields can induce abnormalities in chick embryos. Thus, electromagnetic fields appear not only to be carcinogenic, but also capable of inducing birth defects. Pollack and collaborators, C. T. Brighton, E. O'Keefe, S. R. Pollack and C. C. Clark, J. ORTH. RES. (to be published), have shown that electric fields as low as 0.1 mv/cm at 60 Khz can stimulate growth of bone osteoblasts. McLeod and collaborators have found that in the region between 1 Hz and 100 Hz, much lower fields are needed to stimulate fibroblast growth than at frequencies above and below this range [McLeod, K. J., Lee, R. and Ehrlich, H., "Frequency Dependence of Electric Field Modulation of Fibroblast Protein Synthesis," SCIENCE, 250, 1465 (1987)].
Other than epidemiologic studies, whole body research on EMF exposure has generally been limited to animals. Adverse effects from electromagnetic field exposure have also been shown demonstrated in this case. For example McLean et al. have presented a paper at the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Electromagnetic Society, in June 1991 entitled "Tumor Co-promotion in the mouse skin by 60-Hz Magnetic Fields". They have shown that the number of tumors present is increased by the presence of the magnetic field. Frolen et al. in a paper presented to the First European Congress on Bioelectromagnetism in 1991 entitled "Effects of Pulsed Magnetic Fields on the Developing Mouse Embryo". They show that mice exposed to magnetic fields have significantly more fetal resorptions than those which are unexposed. Since the present inventions negate all electromagnetic field induced bioeffects, all living systems can benefit from its application.
One method typically employed in the prior art to protect living systems from the detrimental effects of fields is to shield the field source. The shielding collects the energy of the field, and then typically grounds it. In practice shielding is impractical because it must completely cover a field source in order to contain the field. The field will radiate through any openings in the shield. In reality, devices cannot be entirely shielded, therefore, while the shielding method can reduce the field it does not entirely eliminate it or its potentially hazardous attributes.
Cathode ray tubes (CRT) are a source of electromagnetic fields to which people are often exposed, for instance television sets and computer screens. Attempts have been made by others in the art to shield the field which emanates from CRT's. One type of shield has been devised to surround the electromagnetic coils of the CRT. Another type of shield has been designed to entirely enclose the CRT. The shields which surround the coils do not, however, eliminate the field completely, nor do the shields which entirely enclose the CRT. These methods are often prohibitively expensive and often do not offer complete elimination of the detrimental effect of the fields.
Another method typically used in the prior art to protect living systems from electromagnetic fields is to balance the field from the source so that the source effectively cancels its own field, thus ideally producing no offending field. For instance, the AC power distribution to homes and industries is typically carried over unshielded bare copper wires, suspended in the air from towers. These lines are usually either two-phase or three-phase. Theoretically these lines can be arranged physically and by phase such that the EMF fields produced by the individual lines are each canceled by the other power line(s). In practice, however, this power cancellation is not complete and an ambient field still results. Also, the costs involved to produce a power distribution system such as this is prohibitively high.
The present inventions have many advantages over the methods employed thus far in the art. Many of the embodiments of the inventions are very inexpensive, they can provide positive protection for the individual, and they can be provided at the control of the individual. There is no need to wait until the power company changes the design of its power distribution system, or wait until the television or computer manufacturer completely shields the product. Some of the embodiments of the inventions enable living systems to have individual protection from the detrimental effects of ambient fields, if and when it is desired. Shielding is not always practical, and even when it is practical it is not always complete. Therefore the present inventions can also provide the user with personal control over the detrimental effects of ambient fields.
To the best of my knowledge, to date no one has heretofore proposed my inventions, although over 12 years have lapsed since the first recognition of the dangers of chronic electromagnetic field exposures to humans. There have been many teachings about the use of electromagnetic fields to treat humans for pre-existing diseases or conditions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,065 (Kraus 1978) describes a coil structure to create a magnetic field for treatment of a hip joint. U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,017 (Ryaby 1978) describes a surgically non-invasive method of an apparatus for altering the growth, repair or maintenance behavior of living tissues by inducing voltages and concomitant current pulses. U.K. Patent GB 2 188 238 A (Nenov et al. 1986) describes an apparatus alleged to provide analgesic, trophic and anti-inflammatory effects. Costa (1987) U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,898 describes a magnetic coil apparatus for treatment of malignant cells with little damage to normal tissue. An apparatus for treatment of diseases of the peripheral and autonomic nervous system as well as other diseases has been described by Solov'eva et al. ("`Polyus-1` Apparatus for Low-Frequency Magnetotherapy," G. Solor'eva, V. Eremin and R. Gorzon, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (Trans. of: Med. Tekh, (USSR)), Vol. 7, No. 5, pp. 291-1 (1973).
The above procedures are usually referred to as "magnetotherapeutic" procedures. My inventions focus instead on the prevention of disease caused by long term exposure to ambient time varying electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields. To date, no other proposals have been presented which utilize modifications of the time dependence of the ambient fields to prevent adverse health effects of ambient electromagnetic fields. Basic to all the patents and articles which describe the treatment of pre-existing diseases by electromagnetic fields (magnetic therapy) is the assumption that electric or magnetic fields (often of large magnitude, e.g. 1 to 100 micro Tesla (Ryaby 1978), if applied for some limited period of time, can beneficially alter the functioning of the cells and tissues within living systems. Now it is known that chronic, long term exposure to even very low level, time varying fields (e.g., magnetic fields as low as 0.5 .mu.T) can cause some of the very diseases which short term therapeutic doses of these fields are used to treat. Methods of protection from the biological effects of magnetic fields have been sorely needed. To find this protection it was necessary for me to recognize that magnetic therapy is carried out by affecting biologic cell function. It had to be realized that if magnetic therapy does not affect the physiological functioning of the living system then no therapeutic effect could result. What was needed, which the present inventions provide, is a method of modifying the ambient fields in which living systems exist in such a way that they have no effect on cell function. This modified field has no utility in the treatment of any disease or biologic malfunction. This modified field is not of any use in magnetic therapy. However, this modified field (because it does not affect the function of the cells and tissues of the living system) has no adverse health effects. Thus, long term exposure to these modified fields will be safe. These modified fields would not, for example, increase the risk of developing cancer.
However, none of the above authors, or anyone else before me, had discovered that periodically changing these very low ambient fields as described elsewhere herein can prevent harmful effects of electromagnetic fields.